A personal tribute to Edith Piaf, one of the finest singers of all time.

Sometimes in our life’s we are fortunate enough to come across someone who truly touches our hearts. A person who makes us feel and think in ways that we have never done before. Edith Piaf is one of those people.

Her voice touched millions of people. She sang about life, love and loss. She herself suffered so much heartache and pain, and yet when she sang she sang, with so much love, that you could actually feel the words well up inside you. Her on stage performance went beyond that of a lady singing to her audience, but of someone singing to her lover. It was all about love for Piaf.

Despite everything that had happened in her life, love was one thing that she believed and said that without it we are nothing at all.

Edith was born December 19th 1915, Belleville Paris. She was cared for by her mother, but only for a short period and then Edith was raised by her maternal grandmother.

n 1929, at age 14, she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances all over France, where she first sang in public. At the age of 15, Edith met Simone “Mmone” Berteaut, who may have been her half-sister, definitely a companion for most of her life, and together they toured the streets singing and earning money for themselves for the first time. With the additional money Edith earned as part of an acrobatic trio, Edith and Mmone were able to rent their own living space.[1] She separated from her father and took a room at Grand Htel de Clermont (18 rue Veron, Paris 18me), working with Marmone as a street singer in Pigalle, Mnilmontant, and the Paris suburbs (cf. the song “Elle frquentait la Rue Pigalle“).

In 1932, she met and fell in love with Louis Dupont. Within a very short time, he moved into their small room, where the three lived despite Louis’ and Mmone’s dislike for each other. Louis was never happy with the idea of Edith’s roaming the streets, and continually persuaded her to take jobs he found for her. She resisted his persuasions whenever possible, until she became pregnant and worked for a short while making wreaths in a factory.[11]

In February 1933, when Edith was 17 years old, her daughter, Marcelle, was born in the Hpital Tenon. Like her mother, Piaf found it difficult to care for a child while living a life of the streets, as she had little maternal instinct, parenting knowledge or domestic skills. She rapidly returned to street singing, until the summer of 1933, when she opened at Juan-les-Pins, Rue Pigalle.[11] Marcelle’s father, Louis, whom Edith never married, was incensed. They quarrelled and Edith left, taking Mmone and Marcelle. The three of them stayed at the Htel Au Clair de Lune, Rue Andr-Antoine. Marcelle was often left alone in the room while Edith and Mmone were out on the streets or at the club singing, and died of meningitis at age two.[11]

n 1935, Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris[1] by nightclub owner Louis Leple,[3] whose club Le Gerny off the Champs-lyses[6] was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness, which, combined with her height of only 142 centimetres (4ft 8in),[4][12] inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and serve as her stage name, La Mme Piaf[3] (Paris slang meaning “The Waif Sparrow” or “The Little Sparrow”).[1] Leple taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to wear a black dress, which became her trademark apparel. Later, she would always appear in black.[1] Leple ran an intense publicity campaign leading up to her opening night, attracting the presence of many celebrities, including actor Maurice Chevalier.[1] Her nightclub gigs led to her first two records produced that same year,[12] with one of them penned by Marguerite Monnot, a collaborator throughout Piaf’s life and one of her favourite composers.

dith Piaf’s signature song, “La vie en rose“,[1] was written in 1945 and was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. It has recently been covered by female artist Melody Gardot, a version that Piaf would be proud of. The same passion that you feel when Piaf sings is also true for Gardot. A personal favourite of mine.

Although Piaf was never short of admirers and was married twice, there was only one great love of her life, Marcel Cerdan a boxer who died in a plane crash. Even though she lost the love of her life she still sang and gave hope to millions of people that whatever life throws at you, good things still happen and finding love is one of them.

Piaf died at the young age of 47, she had liver cancer. Although she was denied a Roman Catholic funeral, her fans came out and it was reported that there was over a 100, 000 of them. Her work is still enjoyed and listened to around the world. Her songs have featured in many films and many films have been produced about her.

When I first read about her last year, my eyes filled up. I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading. I often wonder where people get the strength to carry on. It must be a flicker of light that stills burns inside that holds on.

Edith was reported as saying that although we lose loved ones, death is never the end and in fact a new beginning and one day we will all be reunited with the ones we love.

As I have travelled through Australia and Asia I have come across many inspiring artworks, statues, monuments, sculptures and every once in a while I have had the pleasure of stumbling upon and becoming exposed to artists, that if it wasn’t for the likes of the internet and magazines I would probably never have heard of. So I would like to share with you on this blog post an extremely talented and highly admired artist whose story of late is not only compelling but brave, respected and in my humble opinion highly commendable.

The name of this artist is Ben Quilty and his latest line of artworks have been inspired by his time in Afghanistan standing shoulder to shoulder with his countrymen serving as an official war artist in the current relentless war out in the Middle East. After achieving recognition in Australia by winning the Archibald Prize for his portrait of Margaret Olley Quilty was informed by art officials (The Australian War Memorial) that he has three days to decide whether he thought he had what it takes to become a war artist willing to witness the string of emotions and atrocities uncoiled by his countrymen out in Afghanistan.

Ben Quilty with Margaret Olley and his portrait of her

I grabbed it were the words of Ben Quilty as he talked about the honourable opportunity which was presented to him. He also stated it would be a life-altering experience. For an artist who takes his work seriously, that’s what you seek. You would not believe these comments if you realised that 20 years prior to this opportunity Quilty was, in fact, paranoid about the prospect of being conscripted in the war like Vietnam. At 18 years old this thought alone horrified Ben and his fear of being drafted as a soldier was a very real possibility and an extremely terrifying prospect.

One day whilst in Afghanistan Quilty watched an unnerving game of hockey between Canadian troops on a central sports field surrounded, itself surrounded by all the usual suspects like KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King. While strolling around with his backpack loaded with paints, paintbrushes, sketchbooks and pencils he conversed with American soldiers armed with a slightly different set of tools like shoulder slung assault rifles as they tucked into their fast food delights. Quilty mentioned the slogans plastered on T-shirts found in the nearby stalls chanting Afghan Fighter and I’m Doing This For My God apparently very popular among American troops. Gyms offering spin classes and Afghan rug stalls are another couple of examples of what you might also find surrounding this central field to keep the soldiers’ minds occupied enough to take the edge off the fact that there was a very real war going on just outside the compound. Although there is entertainment Quilty says 24/7 you’re on alert to take cover when enemy rockets land inside the base or a fanatic suicide bomber breaches the walls. With his own interpretation as an artist, Quilty dealt with this strange scenario in his own way to ease the comfort, and states, the war against the Taliban relentlessly continues, and to me, it seemed like some macabre contemporary dance.

INTERLUDE: Good Morning. Sydney Morning Herald 2011 was a fantastic year for Ben Quilty. Already the art worlds heavily courted wonder boy after winning the 2002 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, then the 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize with his portrait of rock singer Jimmy Barnes, he was anointed Australias most promising painter by art elder John Olsen. And then there were the Archibald Prize accolades and a sell-out exhibition at the Korean International Art Fair. Quilty is an interesting mix: a tall, strong, blokey artist who outgrew his wild teenage years as a member of a gang who referred to themselves as the Maggots to gain two university degrees, including a unit in women’s studies and an extra course in Aboriginal studies. Now 38, a passionately thoughtful man, hes also fit and resourceful enough to keep up with the soldiers in the field. We’ve been watching Quiltys’ work mature greatly over seven years, since his early Torana paintings, and he was top of our wish list when the Australian Defence Force offered a war-artist posting to Afghanistan, explains Laura Webster, Australian War Memorial curator of art.

One of many paintings of a Torana by Quilty

That aggressively masculine Torana series, like much of Quiltys’ earlier work, delved into the rights of passage of young men. Specifically, during the perilous decade from 16 to 26 when he and his Maggot gangmates flirted with death by driving hotted up Toranas and wiping themselves out on alcohol, drugs, debauchery. Quilty would photograph his mates, and himself, totally inebriated, then later make luscious paintings of the collapsed faces. He’s gone on to look more broadly at Australian identity and history. Webster adds, Afghanistan is a highly confronting war zone, and we considered Ben feel an affinity with the young men and women of the ADF, understand their concerns and interests, and paint something meaningful about the Australian war experience. A selection of Ben Quiltys’ Afghanistan paintings will be added to the Australian War Memorial permanent collection, to join the long tradition of war artists that began in World War 1 with Arthur Streeton, George Lambert and Frederick McCubbin.

Everybody Counts is the message that is delivered here. Epic Cambodia has been committed to educating and empowering Cambodian people to see ability, not disability. Through various projects relating to art this organisation is managing to do just that.

Epic Arts believes in a world where people with disabilities are valued, accepted and respected. It was founded in 2001. The work in Cambodia was set up in 2003, establishing the Epic Arts Cafe in Kampot and, in 2009, a fully-accessible Arts Centre, the first of its kind in South East Asia.

Through art the organisation helps people to be able to feel valued, included, understood and to feel as equals and not be excluded due to the fact that they have a disability. People are welcomed. For many of them this might be the first time that they have been able to make friends and feel part of a community.

The good thing about art is that it breaks down barriers. Many of the people that have come here would have been made to feel worthless and that they have nothing to offer in life in terms of a career, making friends and having a family. I disagree with that. We are all people at the end of the day. Each and everyone of us, has something that is unique about us, that makes us different from everyone else and thats what makes us all special.

Organisations like this help give people a chance in life that they so deserve. Look how happy all the guys are in the video dancing and singing to the song “Happy”. Some have no arms or legs, are blind or have Down Syndrome. The performing arts side has opened up the way that we look at creating movement to words, such as plays and also music. Each and every person regardless fo their disability is able to participate and show the world that just because you have no legs, doesn’t mean you can’t dance.

Inclusive Arts Course (IAC)

This Cours started in March 2013. New students, from the hearing and visually impaired, able and disabled community began working together on a two-year Arts-focused course.The aim of the course is to use the Arts to transform expectations and broaden horizons about the potential of a more inclusive society.

Students undertake modules in Drama & Theatre, Creative Movement, Music, Film making and Visual Arts, plus lessons in Khmer and English Literacy. This is seen as providing a non-traditional skills training in management,leadership and problem solving, delivered through an Arts- based approach. The courses can then lead onto further study and also help the people gain work all of which they would have thought was previously impossible.

Arts Cafe Kampot

Established in 2006, the idea for the Epic Arts Caf grew from a desire to provide work opportunities for deaf and disabled people as well as a hang-out for deaf students. Today, the Cafe stands as a model for an inclusive working environment within the local community providing work for ten people and raising funds for the work of Epic Arts.

Already a hub for the local community, the caf enjoys a regular stream of international visitors, usually armed with a copy of The Lonely Planet, a good appetite and a desire to learn about the organisation.

What an amazing charity this is. It is of course run in otheer countries, but I decided to pick Cambodia to show that good things are happening for people in some of the less fortunate countries like Cambodia, where money is not always available.

If you would like further details of how to get involved or even donate. Please visit www.epicarts.org.uk.

Here in this short video, master painter Alan Bell, talks to us from a refuge where he has been helping people to express their inner most feelings and needs through painting for the last 6 years.

Often in life we feel trapped and alone and yearn for a way forward that will be a more fulfilling and a happier place. Unfortunately, sometimes in peoples life’s they lose their way due to all different kinds of circumstances. What Alan and the other people at the refuge have tried to do, is to try and encourage people to express their own hurts and feelings on paper, and to also create a new vision of how they would like to see themselves from now on and the new life they would like to lead.

Creating a drawing or a painting is not always about doing it for the benefit of others, but can benefit us, by allowing us to explain through pictures our life story which is sometimes very hard and painful to talk about.

Projects like this lift the spirit of people who often feel on the outside and give them a focus and something to feel proud of. Many of them make cards or draw pictures for family members and friends and when people praise them for the good work they have done, they are left with a positive feeling and also a smile on their face, which may have not been there for many years.

Although many art tutorials teach us about the basics, it can also teach us about people and how we can bring down barriers through education and having compassion for one other despite our different upbringings or believes.

I hope you enjoy this video and the very positive message that it also delivers to all of us.

Although Rosalind Franklin never received the recognition for her work in discovering DNA, she has however become a very important part of women’s life’s all over the world. Franklin and the artist O’Hagan both had ovarian cancer. Through finding Rosalind Franklin’s work the two artists have found a way to promote awareness of ovarian cancer through art and also give Rosalind’s work and Rosalind a place in history by helping women who may have been diagnosed with cancer or by raising the awareness and symptoms so that the disease can be caught early and treated.

Wyllie O Hagan’s art on Franklin was exhibited in The Smith Killien Gallery, in Charleston, SC, USA from 6-8th September 2007. It was hosted by the Center for Women Charleston.

They say in life that there is no such thing as a coincidence and that everything in life happens for a reason. How disappointed and deflated Rosalind must of felt when the nobel prize went to Crick and Watson after all her years of hard work, but how overjoyed and happy would she now be to see her discovery and work helping women just like her.

For more information about Wyllie O Hagan and Rosalind Franklin, visit their website at
http://www.wyllieohagan.com

A creative art idea that has been brought to life to help children face their fears by making, and becoming their favourite super hero

Day after day, we see and hear about more and more children that face some of the most awful life challenges. These children are subjected to certain illnesses or diseases and have to endure some very painful procedures and operations to try and help them become better.

We all fear things in our lives, but imagine how it must feel for a small child. A design company, did think of this very thing and decided that through art and being creative they would help these children to make their very own super hero capes and masks.

The company is called “Hero Design” and it forms part of the larger organisation called Artworks.

What does ArtWorks do?

Provide meaningful employment and training in the arts to Greater Cincinnati area teens

Develop a mentoring program between youth and established artists

Increase public awareness of the importance of the arts and arts education

Foster cultural awareness and promote the Greater Cincinnati community

Promote partnerships of public and private organizations

Increase employment opportunities for professional and emerging artists

How does the design company help the children?

Presented by ARTWORKS Hero Design Company’s mission is to show the world that regardless of limitation or circumstance every child possesses an amazing and unique array of strengths and real world super powers. Our goal is to engage, encourage, and empower children facing emotional, physical, or medical hardship through the creation of custom superhero capes. Together we seek to unite our community and prove that within every child lives a true HERO.

How does it Work?

Hero Design Facilitators are expertly trained in our custom Hero Identification Process. Through a brief semistructured interview our facilitators help each child to identify their own personal strengths, abilities, and real world super powers. Using these powers as a guide each child and facilitator engage in a co-design process focused on defining the child’s new superhero persona, complete with hero name and insignia. Our facilitators then refine the new insignia and create a personalized superhero cape. Faster than a speeding bullet the cape is delivered to the child, ready to show the world how special they are.

Women with scars from breast cancer surgery now have options to improve their lives. Tattoos applied to cover disfiguring operations are revealed by a cancer survivor and client of Seattle’s renowned tattoo artist, Madame Lazonga. “Kim” explains why she chose a full-body tattoo to cover her torso from shoulder, to chest, to hip.

Madame Vyvyn Lazonga has been tattooing for 37 years. Her business, Madame Lazonga’s, is located at Pike Place on 1529 Western Avenue where she opened in 1989. When she started tattooing it was hardly as main stream as it has become today, but now, even Seattle Magazine is writing about her. What makes her special- aside from her notoriety- as one of the first female tattoo artists in the country is that she tattoos over mastectomy scars. In doing so she came to know breast cancer.

For many people having to have breast cancer surgery to remove part or a whole breast is a traumatic event. The aftermath leaves people feeling less attractive. They stand in front of the mirror and see physical scars that are a constant reminder of what life has dealt them. One of the main fears is that you no longer feel whole and that your partner may no longer find you attractive. You stop being you and when on holiday or out and about you cover up, because people may stare at your scars.

Now the future seems a bit brighter for many people in the shape of Madame Lazonga and her team. Using their artistic talents to provide a tattoo or tattoos that cover the scars. People who have never had a tattoo are now finding that they are turning to this art to help them heal. You no longer have to cover up, as these beautiful pieces of art cover all the scars and you can now feel like a different person. When wearing your summer clothes or on the beach in swimwear, people will now look at you because of your wonderful artwork and you will feel so much better knowing this that you will forget all about the scars underneath. Although it will never take away the memories and trauma completely, it is a postive step in the right direction and more and more people are having them.

“I have but one desire as a painter – that is to paint what I see, as I see it, in my own way, without regard for the desires or taste of the professional dealer or the professional collector.”- Georgia O’Keeffe

Famous Women Painter Of Our Time

The most famous woman painter of our time was Georgia O’Keeffe (1887- 1986) . She is best known for her dramatic paintings of gigantic flowers and sun-bleached desert bones. She was independent and loved to be alone. She expressed herself through pictures and colours and every painting told a different story. She didn’t care much for fame and fortune and painted for herself. She helped many people believe that being independent doesn’t mean you are alone or lonely.

It was the sight of a tiny flower in a still life by Fantin-Latour that prompted her to adopt a magnified perspective: “A flower is relatively small. Everyone has many associations with a flower . Still, in a way, nobody sees a flower really it is so small,we haven’t time and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. So I said to myself, I’ll paint what I see ,what the flower is to me but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it. I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”

Relationship With Alfred Steiglitz Famous Photographer

At a time when men and women had extraordinarily stringent gender roles, Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe’s relationship placed them as equals both personally and professionally, with each other’s desired role being determined wholly by their individual wants. It is no surprise that two people who could form this type of bond would be largely responsible for setting the modern and post-modern art stage. O’Keeffe was one of the first female artists to rise to prominence in her time, and over her long and fruitful life, she produced a body of work that has become iconic.

In 1916, Stieglitz was shown the drawings of a young art teacher in Texas named Georgia O’Keeffe. Without meeting her, he was instantly taken by her work. Once O’Keeffe was in New York, she became Stieglitz’s muse. Stieglitz had grown up with twin siblings and had always longed for a twin of his own, which he claimed to have finally found in O’Keeffe. Stieglitz took more than 350 portraits of her, one of which, titled “Hands,” sold in 2006 for $1.47 million.

In turn, Stieglitz promoted O’Keeffe tirelessly, and she became famous for her still-life paintings of flowers, abstracted and approached with a point of view that focused on their intricacies of shaps instantly taken by the work and made plans to show it. By the summer of 1917, they were frequently writing to each other between New York and Texas, and soon after, O’Keeffe moved to New York into a studio space provided for her by Stieglitz.

In the period from 1918 to 1932 O’Keeffe produced more than 200 flower paintings, in which common flowering plants such as roses, petunias, poppies, camellias, sunflowers, bleeding hearts and daffodils are accorded the same significance as rare blooms such as black irises and exotic orchids. One of the flowers that she regularly treated in larger-than-life format was the calla lily. This subsequently became her “emblem” in the eyes of the public, and one which the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias took up in his caricature of O’Keeffe as “Our Lady of the Lily”, which appeared in the New Yorker in 1929. Calla lilies had first caught the artist’s eye in a florist’s shop at Lake George: “I started thinking about them because people either liked them or disliked them intensely, while I had no feeling about them at all.”

Their relationship lasted — through many challenges, for sure — until Stieglitz’s death in 1946. O’Keeffe scattered his ashes and donated his photographs to museums all over the world, with the largest collection going to the National Gallery. O’Keeffe then moved to her home in Abiquiu, New Mexico, full-time, where she took inspiration from the surrounding scenery for the rest of her very long life.

Art Museum

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened to the public in July 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist from whom it takes its name.

Welcoming more than 2,225,000 visitors from all over the world and being the most visited art museum in the state of New Mexico, it is the only museum in the world dedicated to an internationally known American woman artist.

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s education and public programs have won praise from parents, educators and school administrators, as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, New Mexico Arts and Santa Fe Arts Commission.

Don Mclean and Vincent Van Gogh. A Look at how these two artists found each other and became entwined together forever.

Sometimes in life we don’t need to know a person inside out to understand what they are all about. It’s a knowing or a feeling that we have inside that we go with that leads us to creating a piece of work that marries together people. If Vincent Van Gogh was around now, I am sure that he would be filled with appreciation and admiration for Don Mclean who in this beautiful song captures what Vincent really felt.

Don McLean wrote Vincent in his apartment full of antiques. The inspiration came to him one morning while he was sitting on the veranda looking at a book about Vincent Van Gogh. As he studied a print of Van Goghs painting Starry Night, he realized that a song could be written about the artist through the painting. The more I thought about it, the more interesting and challenging the idea became. I put down the book and picked up my guitar, which was never far away, and started fiddling around, trying to get a handle on this idea, while the print of Starry Night stared up at me. Looking at the picture, I realized that the essence of the artists life is his art. And so, I let the painting write the song for me. Everyone is familiar with that painting.

Van Gogh painted Starry Night during one of the most difficult periods of his life, while he was locked up in an asylum at Saint Remy. He had to paint the scene from memory, not outdoors as he preferred. Van Gogh mentioned Starry Night only twice in his letters to his brother, Theo. It is therefore one of the more mysterious and intriguing Van Gogh compositions.

Van Gogh has always struck me as a person, that if you could go back in time and meet anyone he would be the one. After seeing his paintings and listening and reading what he writes, you would just want to give him a massive hug and kiss on the cheek and tell him “Vincent you are a wonderful man and don’t you ever forget that” “Your passion for life stands out and you care deeply about people” “We all now see the true you and are grateful that you finally showed us that fire that burns within”

Vincent wrote many things and here are a few quotes by him.

Those who love much, do much and accomplish much, and whatever is done with love is done well…. Love is the best and noblest thing in the human heart, especially when it is tested by life as gold is tested by fire. Happy is he who has loved much, and although he may have wavered and doubted, he has kept that divine spark alive and returned to what was in the beginning and ever shall be.

So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the outside? There is such a great fire in ones soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themselves there, and passersby see nothing but a little smoke coming from the top of the chimney, and go on their way.

It is possible that everything will get better after it has all seemed to go wrong. I am not counting on it, it may never happen, but if there should be a change for the better I should regard that as a gain, I should rejoice, I should say, at last! So there was something after all!

Famed for the creation of numerous maternal pieces of work, here artist Tracey Kershaw invites us to look at her current work around Mothers. A person dear to all of our hearts.

I first came across Tracey’s work a few years ago in my home town of Loughborough. She was exhibiting her current work “Tell Me About Your Mother”. As I walked around the town hall sock gallery, there staring me in the face were those very words. To say that it spoke out to me was an understatement. It totally grabbed me and made me start to think about my own mother.

The idea is that you write down on pieces of paper things about your mother and then you post them into a little brown box. Tracey collects all of these and uses them to display them on the walls when she does an exhibition. Some of the things that people said were very heartfelt, while other things expressed were peoples inner most feelings and some were not that nice if i am honest, but the honesty came from the person who wrote them and not all experiences are truly great with our mothers for some people.

Tracey’s work looks at exploring the relationships between mothers and children. In her newest work, she has asked people to send to her photos of their mothers and to write a little about them. Our parents and our relationships with them growing up has made us who we are today. We not only act like them, but find ourselves sounding like them. Regardless of our backgrounds we have all had good and bad experiences and some have had very bad ones. We’ve all been told off at some point by our mothers. Only a mother can tell you off in one breath and in the next give you a big hug and love and tell you to forget about it and that she loves you. For the majority of us yes this is true, but many children have had a rough time growing up and showed not much love by their mothers. This in turn carries into their adulthood and these children often find it hard to love others and have lasting relationships. So it is important in Tracey’s work that we show all sides of this maternal relationship.

Here is a picture of my mother:

This is Margaret and she was born in Ballycastle Co Antrim in Northern Ireland. Moved to the UK when she was 18. She is a family woman through and through. A caring lady who not only looked after her 4 children but all her family and friends. She had an amazing smile and a big laugh. She loved baking and visting her sister Eileen who lived in the same town. Her strongest point was that she stood up for you and helped you in life, she showed you not to be afraid and to do the right thing. My mum died when she was 47 and I was 16. I am 47 this year. It hardly seems 5 mins ago when she used to shout up the stairs to get me up for school. All I have now are memories and good ones at that. I miss her not being around, especially now I have a daughter of my own Rosie. I tell Rosie about my mum and now she is always talking about mama Margaret. Mama Margaret is in heaven with Tess and Hovis, who were my dogs when I was little. She is mine and Rosie’s guardian angel and I believe that she still looks after me even though I cannot see her anymore. It hurts like hell, but I now find myself using all the things she taught me so that I bring up Rosie, just like she did me.

If you would like to contact Tracey and share your photos and experiences then please do as Tracey will be very grateful for it.

Her web address is: Traceykershaw.co.uk. You will find further details about all her projects and latest works here also.

Likewise if you want to comment on this post about your mother then please do so.